A touchscreen implemented with a conventional touchscreen controller only provides the position (i.e., the coordinates) and the duration of the touch events to the processor of the device.
On the other hand, certain operations are cumbersome to perform on a user interface that relies on a conventional touchscreen as the main input device. For example, it may be cumbersome to enter capital letters, or letters with diacritical marks, such as accented letters, with an on-screen keyboard displayed on a touchscreen. A user may need to press the Shift key, the Caps Lock key, or the like, on an on-screen keyboard, or may need to press and hold on a character to view character options. It may also be cumbersome to enter complex non-Latin characters, such as certain Asian characters, with an on-screen keyboard on a touchscreen. A user may need to enter specific input modes to be able to enter such complex characters.
As a further example, touchscreen-based user interfaces lack the equivalents of the mouse-over or right-click operations commonly found on pointer-and-cursor-based user interfaces. Therefore, invoking context menus or help texts may be cumbersome on a touchscreen-based user interface.
As a further still example, visually impaired users may find it difficult to operate touchscreen user interfaces when they need to enter texts or select menu items. The conventional double-tap feature (the user interface provides an auditory announcement of the menu item at a single-tap, and registers the item selection only at a double-tap) may be helpful but is still cumbersome to use.
Moreover, certain operations commonly performed on touchscreen-equipped electronic devices leave room for improvement. For example, 4-digit Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) commonly used with mobile devices are unsecure because of their short length and small symbol set. These 4-digit PINs are prone to brute-force guessing, shoulder surfing, or guessing based on smudges left on the glass surface of the touchscreen.
Therefore, methods implemented with a touchscreen for improving the user experience for any of the above-described operations may be desirable.